Greenhouse for Winter



I always wanted a greenhouse.  In Arlington we never got around to having a nice greenhouse.  It was instead a covered enclosed patio that was crumbling and the roof had a hole in it where rain would come through. This one is still missing a window but I have the manufacturer informed and expect they will send us the piece soon and I can just pop it in.

As you can see there are already plants in it and I expect to put in shelves real soon to add even more plant storage and humidity.  The key to a good greenhouse is humidity.  This guy seals up really well and I expect to have it going in full swing in no time.

So far I have about a dozen pots in there although half of them have no plants to speak of.  The one seen in the picture though has green onion, turmeric, pineapple, and the remains of a tomato plant.  I don't expect the tomato plant to bounce back though.  It got in too late after the last freeze to help. I also have an aloe in the back (lots of moisture in there and twice the size as when I bought it). In the middle left another turmeric and day lily pot.  One of such is still up at the front of the house and a good enough size pot that I expect it should be fine.  Winter isn't usually harsh enough to kill, just enough to kill back.

I'm hoping to get some more interesting plants growing in there as well since humidity is one thing I never really got previously so this should be interesting.

Winter Garden

Getting the gardening going in the winter this year.  We purchased two raised garden bags which have eight - one cubic foot areas each in a 2x4 grid.  The packets are laid out in the order in which we planted them.

The seeds are a bit old but something should still sprout.  We purchased these seeds back in 2013 and most of them have at least an 85% viability rating.  A few even higher.

My wife asked if that means they are all done for now since it's been 12 years.  The percent viability is at the time they expect you to be planting these seeds.  It's more like a half life though.  Every year less seeds will probably be viable and sure eventually they will probably all be useless and not sprout but even 12 years isn't so long for seeds.

There are records of seeds remaining viable for over a hundred years.  Some of the oldest seeds to germinate did so over a thousand years.  One source claims a seed was over ten-thousand years old and was still able to be grown into a flowering specimen.  Not sure how they dated that one but that's what they are claiming.  Personally I can easily believe the hundred year old seeds but past that I think it's more of a guess how long the seed has been around.